NW Digital Radio is seeking input for the next Raspberry Pi based Amateur Radio digital station platform.

The new Raspberry Pi HAT will contain a CODEC (sound card) based on the successful UDRC II and will include two amateur radio packet standard mini DIN-6 ports allowing one or two radios to be connected with PTT and SQL detect and support programs/protocols such as:

We were hopeful to have the Kickstarter produce enough response to deliver the XC-3006 at a bit of a discount to enable delivery at a favorable price point. Our target was 50 units, or the equivalent in support pledges, but we fell short.

However, we were encouraged by the 29 individual pledges that wanted to obtain the XC-3006 and have had some folks ask if there is another way to get the production done.

We have had the house elves running over the numbers and we can do a run if we get at least 25 firm, pre-paid orders, by February 15th. If you place a firm, pre-paid order, and we do not meet the minimum of 25 orders, we will refund your order.

If this minimum order quantity is met by February 15th, then we anticipate shipment by mid-April — baring any unforeseen delays.

When doing a shorter run the cost of parts and manufacturing go up. For example our cost for assembly through the contract assembly house goes up an additional 61% alone.

Luc informs us that the 2 prototype boards took 8 hours to build using hand assembly, our assembly house has a full SMD assembly and test facility.

Here is the offer

We have added the XC-3006 for purchase through http://nwdigitalradio.com/product/xc-3006/ at $480/unit plus shipping and sales tax (Tax is collected for orders delivered in Washington State only).

Everyone who pledged at the $360 or $400 levels via the Kickstarter should have received a discount coupon via email — it doesn’t match the Kickstarter pledge price, but does bring the price down in consideration of their early support.

If you signed up for the Kickstarter at the $360 or $400 level and have not received a coupon, contact sales@nwdigitalradio.com

No additional coupons will be issued, however if you wish to buy a quantity of 5 or more units, contact sales for quantity pricing.

After the first batch, we will consider future runs, again as pre-paid, firm, orders within a set timeframe, if there is sufficient interest.

NW Digital Radio is manufacturing the hardware and will support that hardware under our warranty. Software and configuration support will come from the XLX group and other software developers.

NW Digital Radio has been evolving over the last few years. Our initial focus was to develop a 70cm radio focused specifically at higher speed digital communications for the amateur radio market. This is still a goal, however, due to a series of conditions we cannot predict when this will happen.

While working on the various aspects of the radio we have been able to produce a series of products that have sustained the ongoing efforts of the company.

We have learned a lot in the process and will be taking that knowledge into new products going forward.

We at NW Digital Radio are problem solvers, and like the process of assembling a project from components, both hardware and software, and have delivered products based on that model.

For some products this model works very well, like our ThumbDV™, which has been very successful when used with software like BlueDV, WinDV, AMBEserver, DummyRepeater, XLX/ambed, and more. Thousands are finding that the ThumbDV™is just the right product at the right price point and are successfully using it to communicate from computer, over the network, to Digital Voice protocols such as D-STAR, DMR, and more.

Other products, such as the UDRC and UDRC II, have allowed the creation of digital communications systems whether D-STAR repeaters, fldigi workstations, Direwolf sound modem TNCs, or other soundcard DSP based systems. Many of these projects have come about by experimentation and integration by individual amateurs working with open source software and our boards.

However, as we talk with customers and potential customers, we find that many are more interested in solutions that are prepackaged with hardware, software, and a case. Basically, they want a “plug and play” solution that requires little to no integration beyond basic cabling to radios and some minor, guided, configuration.

In 2018, you will see NW Digital Radio evolving from a component provider to a solution provider. We continue to be dedicated to products that leverage open source software and standard platforms, but will be focusing on delivering solutions that are pre-integrated with hardware, software, and packaging.

We will also continue to provide the experimenter and developer a platform that they can access and build upon.

Furthermore, we intend to use the kick starter model on some products where there appears to be an interest in the community, but where we need to know the level of that interest before proceeding with full inclusion of an idea into our product line. If you find a product on our kick starter list, please support it, the risk to you is minimal, while helping us bring out innovative solutions.

Some of the projects we have under design at the current time include:

A networked, multi-speed, TNC for packet radio

An Emcomm workstation

A device for combining multiple SDR-RTL dongles into a single platform

An integrated low power radio/TNC

and more.

Look for these projects to roll out over the next few months. We think 2018 is going to be a great year to continue to put “The Amateur back in Amateur Radio” —

We are pleased to announce the launch of a Kickstarter for a 6 Channel USB AMBE device which is compatible with the XLX Reflector System. The XLX system creates reflectors for the DCS, DExtra, and DPLUS systems and also supports integration with DMR.

To transcode AMBE+ (D-STAR) and AMBE+2 (DMR/YSF/dPMR/NXDN/P25-Phase 2/…) requires a hardware solution. This can be accomplished using pairs of ThumbDVs or other USB based AMBE-3000 devices.

Reflector systems may have multiple reflectors (A-Z) that require transcoding simultaneously, which requires multiple streams available and that is where the XCode-3006 comes to the rescue.

The folks behind the XLX system designed a board that can provide up to 6 streams on a single USB port and it is in operation now at XLX950 (XRF950/DCS950/…) which is using the board to cross connect with DMR.

NW Digital Radio is running a Kickstarter to fund an initial build of 50 of these units. 50 units is the minimum production run in order to keep costs down.

This is where you can help:

If you run a reflector, you can obtain a XCode-3006 via a pledge on the Kickstarter at one of two levels.

If you use a reflector, you can help the operator of that reflector by helping them obtain a XCode-3006 via the kickstarter.

If you just like the idea of a six channel AMBE transcoder, and want to help out, there are pledge levels for supporters like you.

This can only happen if we meet the funding goal set for the Kickstarter, and we only have 30 days to reach it.

Having this board available opens the opportunity for other projects such as: